Taking the Fall
by FireDragon1019
Summary: Human A.U., in the future, 3 children of SpaMano, GerIta, and PruCan. crappy summary, better fanfic (hopefully)


Kaela Burton Mr. Robinson LA Literature Fair: Creative Writing

5/2/13

Taking a Fall

Azelia sat on her father's lap. She brushed her hair- which was wavy and dark except for one odd curl that seemed lighter than the rest and refused to lie flat against her head- out of her eyes. Antonio smiled adoringly down at her.

"Mija, today do you want to go and check on our tomatoes for me?" he asked. Azelia nodded excitedly.

"Sí, Papá. I will." Just then, Lovino walked into the kitchen.

"Don't forget your basket, fiore. You can bring back the ripe ones and we can make my special sauce for when Uncle Feliciano and Lyden come tonight." Azelia nodded again. She noticed, however, that Lovino did not mention that Uncle Feli's husband, Ludwig Beilschmidt, who Lovi had never liked for some reason, would also be coming.

She found her basket on the wooden shelf in her closet. It was big enough to hold about ten tomatoes. She licked her lips. That meant that she would have to eat some so that they would fit… and tomatoes were her absolute favorite food. As she closed the closet door, she grabbed her green windbreaker and shrugged it onto her shoulders. It matched the ribbon in her hair perfectly.

"Be back before three!" Lovino called after her as she raced out the door.

Azelia skipped down the path to the garden, hopping on rocks to cross the stream. When she got there, she immediately busied herself. First, she checked all of the plants. She picked the ripe tomatoes and put as many as would fit into her basket. The overripe ones were buried back into the soil to give nutrients to the healthy ones. Next, she pulled the weeds. She couldn't have weeds around, hindering her tomatoes' growth. Not even pretty ones, like dandelions. Last, she sprinkled water over the plants.

Finally, she was finished. It wasn't even close to three yet. Maybe she could call Gabriel. Smiling to herself, she climbed up the branches of her tree which looked out over her garden. Using the thicker, sturdy branches, she pulled herself all the way up until she was level with the roof. She whistled a series of short, high-pitched notes which sounded like a bird twittering. A boy's head appeared just above a thick branch.

"I've been here the whole time, silly," he said, smirking. She rolled her eyes at him as she tied her hair back in a pony tail with her ribbon.

"So, what's up?"

"Not much. I've just got some ripe tomatoes here that just can't seem to fit in the basket… meaning they're ours," she grinned. Gabriel grinned back, taking one and biting into it.

When the two had first met, Azelia had been in her garden, like today, picking tomatoes. Gabriel had suddenly jumped down from where he was hiding, up in her tree. His unusual red eyes flashed mischievously as he introduced himself as Gabriel Beilschmidt and said that he had just moved in across the street. She laughed and said, "That's the surname of mí tio, Ludwig!" Gabriel chuckled in disbelief.

"No way! That's _my_ uncle's name!" Both laughing, they began to piece together a family tree which they sketched out in the dirt. It looked somewhat like this:

Antonio

Lovino

Matthew

Gilbert

Ludwig

Feliciano

Azelia

Lyden

Gabriel

Then, she had offered him a tomato, which he refused. It wasn't native to where he was from. Eventually, however, she had convinced him to try one. After taking a bite, he proclaimed that he loved it and finished off the rest with lightning speed before reaching for another. They had laughed all the while.

Now, looking back on it, they laughed again.

"Ummm…" Azelia started, cocking her head to the side the way she did when she was going to ask a favor.

"What?"

"Well… will you come to the play with Lyden and me after dinner?" Gabriel was a little surprised by that question. He had expected something along the lines of: _Well, there's this toy that I really want to get, but I can't quite afford it…_ Apparently, he was wrong.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase, Gabe?" she begged. Gabriel nodded.

"Sure. It sounds like fun. I'll have to ask my dads, though." Azelia smiled confidently at that.

"I'm sure Uncle Matt won't mind. He's always so nice. And, Uncle Gil will usually let you do anything if you complement him enough…" They both chuckled at the ridiculous truth. Suddenly, Azelia's face split into an excited grin.

"Hey, Gabe! Wanna see something?" Gabriel shrugged. Azelia gripped the branch she was sitting on with her legs and leaned backwards, hanging upside down. Gabriel looked alarmed.

"Hey! You might fall, and we're really high up!"

Azelia grinned, pulling herself back into an upright position.

"Tranquilo, Gabe. I'm just playing around. I do it all the time." Soon, Gabriel relaxed and even began to grin back again.

"You know, I thought girls were supposed to be the cautious ones!" he exclaimed.

"I swear, if I didn't keep an eye on you, you'd jump off the roof and try to fly." Azelia just laughed at him again.

"That's what papa says. You sound just like him."

"Well, clearly the two fathers you have aren't enough to stop you from doing reckless things."

Gabriel squinted at the sun.

"What time do you have to go back home?"

"Three… oh, that's about now. Gracias. Remember to ask tus padres, okay?"

Azelia turned and made her way down the tree with her tomato basket.

As she reached the bottom, she stopped for a second and called up, "If I ever do fall, you'll be there to catch me, right?" Gabriel nodded.

"Of course. What are friends for?" Azelia smiled one last time before turning away again and running up the path towards her house.

She skipped through the front door and dropped her basket on the kitchen counter. Antonio smiled at her from where he was chopping onions on a cutting board.

"So, are we going to need that extra ticket?" He asked. Azelia rolled her eyes and hugged him. He knew her so well. Then she crinkled her nose and took a step back.

"How do you cut those without tearing up?" She asked, blinking hard. He shrugged.

"Just used to it, I guess." Lovino came into the kitchen with a broom, his nose crinkling, too. Antonio laughed at the sight.

"That's funny. When we were younger, you refused to even go near a broom, let alone sweep something," He teased. Azelia giggled and Lovino scowled.

"Don't listen to your Papa, Azelia. I did some cleaning," He said, but Antonio shook his head emphatically behind Lovino's back. Lovino mock punched Antonio's arm. Meanwhile Azelia had collapsed into a fit of giggles at her fathers' behaviors.

"Hey, aren't you going to make that sauce? Feli will be here soon, and you know he'll be hungry," Lovino said. Antonio grinned, swiped the onions into the pot, and approached the basket of tomatoes. He grabbed one, rinsed it off carefully, and then started slicing it up.

"Azelia, why don't you tidy up your stuff and it before our guests get here?" Lovino asked. Azelia nodded and grabbed a handful of her stuff off the kitchen table And dashed up to her room. She quickly dropped them into their proper drawers, then headed back downstairs for more.

Before she knew it, the doorbell rang. She ran to answer it before anyone else could. She flung open the door and hugged her blonde cousin. Together she and Lyden dragged Uncle Feli and Uncle Ludwig into the dining room where Lovino had set the table. Plates, forks, knives, spoons, and cups were all arranged around the table, and a pot of steaming pasta covered in sauce sat in the middle, next to a bowl of vegetables and a plate of delicious chicken. While the adults ate slowly and made conversation, Azelia and Lyden scarfed down their meals. They both set down their forks at the same time.

"Done! Can we go get Gabe now?" They begged in unison. Feli laughed and nodded.

"Say hello to Gilbert for me, okay, Lyden?" Ludwig asked.

"Okay," Lyden said, bouncing up and down on her toes with excitement. Antonio waved goodbye as Azelia dragged Lyden out the door.

In under a minute, they were down in the garden, standing under their tree. They looked up.

"Gabe, we're here! We're coming up!" Lyden said as she put her foot on the lowest branch and started to climb. Gabriel looked down at them and waved. When they reached Gabriel's height, Azelia kept climbing a few branches higher. "Don't go too high. The branches get thinner around where you are!" Gabriel called. Azelia ignored him, pulling herself five branches higher before sitting down.

"Hey, look what I can do, Lyden!" Azelia called. She let go with her hands and leaned back until she was hanging upside down. She grinned, but Gabriel looked terrified.

"Azelia, come down! You'll fall!"

"No, I'm fine. This is fun!"

There was a loud crack, Azelia screamed as she fell towards the other two and then past them. Gabriel reached out for her hand as fast as he could, but it was too late. A second later, Azelia hit the ground. She didn't move.

"Azelia!" Gabriel screamed. He practically jumped out of the tree and ran to her. Lyden was beside him in seconds.

"Lyden, get her dads. Quick!" Lyden immediately turned and sprinted up the path. Gabriel kneeled beside Azelia, tears streaming down his face.

"Azelia, hang in there! Please, don't leave me! Please! You're my best friend!" At this point, he was crying and shaking so hard he could no longer speak. He heard a shout, but didn't register it. He felt himself being dragged back, away from her. He struggled, shouting her name, trying to escape from his father, who had come, too, and get back to her. Then, Lyden, who was also crying, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Gabe, listen to me. Sie kann sie nicht hören. She needs to get to a hospital. Now. Or she might not live!" Lyden begged. Gabe hands fell. He stopped struggling, stops shouting. He fell back into Matthews arms and watch silently as Lovino, Antonio, Feliciano, Ludwig, and Gilbert worked together to lift her up and carry her to the car. He didn't speak again until just before Antonio closed the car door.

"Let me come with her!" He blurted. Antonio smiled sadly. "Of course you can, Gabriel. Hop in the car." Gabe didn't need to be told twice. He practically dived into the car besides Azelia. All the way to the hospital, he sat beside her, scrutinizing her face for any sign of movement. Every couple minutes, he would put his hand in front of her mouth to ensure that she was still breathing. Even after they arrived, he only reluctantly agreed to wait outside while she was looked over by the doctor.

After over an hour, the doctor finally came back out of the room.

"Well, she has several broken bones. It's likely that she won't even be able to stand for a very long time. There may or may not be permanent damage to the muscle structure in her right hand. However, she will live. There is no visible brain or heart damage." Gabriel wasn't sure whether to be relieved or sad. He was so glad that she would live and that there was no damage to her brain or heart, miraculously, but if she couldn't walk or write, at least for a long time, then that would limit the things they could do together a lot. He decided it didn't matter. He would still visit her, stay by her side, and make sure that she was never lonely. He had promised to catch her if she fell, but he couldn't keep that promise. The least he could do was be there while she recovered.

He sat on the floor like a stubborn guard dog for hours day after day, until the nurses finally said that Azelia could have visitors again. Gabe hurried in. When Azelia saw him, she smiled.

"You're here."

"Well, of course I am. What are best friends for?" Gabe replied. He took her hand, the one that wasn't broken. They just stayed there in complete silence for a very long time. It wasn't an awkward silence, just a calm, almost happy one. Then, Gabriel took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry, Zae," he said, using the nickname he used to call her when they were kids.

"It's not your fault. I was stupid."

"I promised I'd catch you."

"Sometimes… people fall too fast to catch."

"I love you, Zae."

"Love you, too."


End file.
